David Vitter was given a standing ovation in the Republican Senate caucus after his tearful, "I-got-caught" confession. A standing O.
This for a guy who has been a regular patron of hookers for a number of years, according to reports out of Louisiana. And this for a guy who liked his paid women to diaper him and whip him, according to reports.
Standing O.
Larry Craig, on the other hand, received an immediate, "He should resign." Even before he held his ill-fated press conference, a number of prominent Republicans, including Mitt Romney and John McCain, were already throwing him under the bus. No standing O for Larry.
So let's have a look at Republican rules:
- Standing O - serial heterosexual unfaithfulness with diapering and masochism kink
- Shunning and ostracism - serial closeted homosexuality including a misdemeanor bust
(more)
Yeah, that's a double standard that points out Republican homophobia and typical conservative sexual repression. (It's only good if it's dirty, because that's bad.)
[As a sidenote, Condi's leather-booted dominatrix look is a perfect match for this sexually repressed crowd.]
Last I checked, prostitution was illegal and frequenting prostitutes was also illegal.
Take a look at this Google news search result and tell me that what Vitter was doing was not illegal.
Some samples:
August 29, 2007, Indianapolis Star:
Prostitution sting nabs dozens
Indianapolis metropolitan police arrested dozens of prostitutes and their customers on the Eastside during the weekend in a sting operation.
August 29, 2007, Toledo Blade:
10 people arrested in Toledo prostitution sting
The Toledo police vice-narcotics unit arrested 10 people yesterday during prostitution sting operations along Broadway as well as Lagrange Street.
The 10 people arrested were charged with a total of 11 misdemeanor counts and two felonies, and four of them each had three warrants issued against them.
August 29, 2007, The Brantford Expositor:
Woman faces prostitution charge
A 24-year-old Brantford woman faces two charges of communicating for the purposes of prostitution.
...
Earlier this month, police charged six men, aged 26 to 53, with communication for the purposes of prostitution as part of a sting operation in the Market Street area.
August 24, 2007, Billings Gazette:
25 men arrested in sting operation
Twenty-five men were arrested in a recent prostitution sting operation in Billings, police said Thursday morning.
...
The operation earlier this month included undercover female law enforcement officers working in plain clothes, Police Sgt. RD Harper said. It ran for four days over a two-week period.
The 25 men were charged with soliciting prostitution. Two drug busts were also made along with arrests for theft and obstructing a police officer, police said.
The only difference between Vitter and Craig is that Vitter did not get nabbed by the police. Craig got busted in an undercover sting operation just like every guy busted in the examples, above. No difference. Every time Vitter picked up a phone and set an appointment to be diapered and whipped, he was doing the same thing Larry Craig was doing in the airport restroom. Imagine if Vitter had been set up in a sting operation. How is it any different?
Both committed crimes. And does anyone really believe for a moment that had Craig pulled his own tearful confession -- ala Vitter but with a "Ted Haggard-spin":
"I have sinned against the Lord, my family and the people of Idaho and had homosexual sex, but I am turning myself over to Jesus to cure me of these depraved, wanton, satanic urges. I will go into treatment to overcome my sins and I hope to remain in my position representing the good folks of Idaho."
... that Craig would have received a standing ovation in the Republican caucus after that apologia like Vitter did?
Yes, one can almost imagine the shouts from Hatch and Inhofe and McConnell and Lott... "Hooray for your braveness, Larry, and for apologizing for your formerly closeted gayness!"
Yeah, right.
So Craig's case IS different than Diaper Boy's. It's all about the gayness.
Well, that and the electoral politics.
Update [2007-8-31 14:12:46 by Bob Johnson]:
Yeah, yeah, I know all about the political implications of Vitter versus Craig (thus, the last line of my post just above this update), but regardless of the political implications, I just cannot imagine the Republican Senate caucus giving Craig a standing ovation had he copped to the entirety of his actions and begged Jesus to cure him of his closeted homosexuality.
Does anyone really believe a freak like Inhofe would be cheering on Craig, regardless of the political consequences?
But there was Inhofe, clapping wildly for Diaper Boy.